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Compare any two cars and get our Virtual Adviser™ opinion

Car #1
Make
Model
Variant
Engine
Car #2
Make
Model
Variant
Engine

compare selected cars
2005. - 2009.
F - Executive car
sedan, 4 door
rear
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2002. - 2010.
F - Executive car
sedan, 4 door
4 x 4

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

5076 mm
1871 mm
1473 mm
560 liters
560 liters
90 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
5055 mm
1903 mm
1450 mm
500 liters
500 liters
90 liters
2005 Mercedes Benz S
2002 Volkswagen Phaeton

Engine

Mercedes Benz
5.5 M275 E55 AL HP
Petrol
12 - V config, 3 valves per cylinder
Bi-Turbo
5513 cc
517 hp
830 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Volkswagen
6.0 W12
Petrol
12 - W config, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
6005 cc
420 hp
550 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

 
kg
s
km/h
l/100km
l/100km
l/100km
g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
 
kg
s
km/h
l/100km
l/100km
l/100km
g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 5 gears
2080 kg
4.6 s
250 km/h
21.7 l/100km
10.0 l/100km
14.3 l/100km
340 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 5 gears
2266 kg
6.1 s
250 km/h
23.9 l/100km
10.9 l/100km
15.6 l/100km
374 g/km

Expenses

8400 EUR
Price from
4600 EUR

Virtual Adviser's™ opinion

Overview

Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by petrol engines and utilizing the 4-door sedan body style within the same 'Executive car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (rear for the Mercedes Benz and 4 x 4 in the case of the Volkswagen). The first one has a Mercedes Benz-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 12-cylinder, 36-valves 517hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 12-cylinder, 48-valves 420hp engine designed by Volkswagen.

Safety

Unfortunatelly, neither of the two vehicles was submitted to the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) testing. This makes it virtually impossible for me to pick one over the other and I'm generally against buying such cars as the safety should really always come first. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. Both vehicles belong to the executive car segment, which is generally a fortune safety-wise, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. On the other hand, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, Phaeton offers a marginal difference of 9% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Volkswagen does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of Mercedes Benz with an average rating of 4.4, and models under the Volkswagen badge with 4.2 out of 5. The same official information place S as average reliability-wise, and Phaeton is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as Mercedes Benz S rank it on average as 3.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 2.0 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Mercedes Benz is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.5 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 250 kilometers per hour, exactly the same as the other car does. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be Mercedes Benz S, averaging around 14.3 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (20 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 9% difference compared to Phaeton.


Verdict

Volkswagen appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, Phaeton offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with Mercedes Benz being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but Mercedes Benz. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. I suggest you spend two more minutes in order to find out which car, based on your needs and budget, would be picked by the virtual adviser, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.

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